Geneva – OnePress
The Federal Minister of Health, Prof. Haitham Ibrahim, announced that Sudan has succeeded in reducing about half of the number of children who have not received any vaccinations in the past two years, during his participation in a high-level event on the sidelines of the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva.
The minister explained that the country was facing one of the highest rates of unvaccinated children globally, with the number exceeding 1.2 million, with cases concentrated in Khartoum, Jazira, Darfur and Kordofan states, in light of deteriorating health infrastructure and disruption of supply chains.
He pointed out that the launch of the “Great Catch Up” initiative in 2024, in partnership with international organizations, contributed to reaching about 450,000 children until May 2026, in addition to achieving vaccination coverage exceeded 90% in nine states, through mobile field medical teams.
The minister stressed that these results represent important progress in protecting children’s health, saying that reaching the unvaccinated groups is “a matter of justice, dignity and saving the future of generations.” He also renewed the ministry’s commitment to complete coverage of all children without exception across the country.
At the same time, he warned that declining international funding could threaten the sustainability of these gains, calling for more sustainable and flexible funding mechanisms that ensure a combination of emergency response and long-term health system development.